Thursday, January 19, 2012

FarmGirl Friday Blog Hop #41

"I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world"

- George Washington

Let's begin this week's Farmgirl Hop with a BIG announcement from our favorite Farmgirl and founder of Farmgirl Friday, Deb!

" Howdy friends! Welcome back to your favorite Friday blog hop! Farmgirl Friday has been going strong for 40 homemaking, homesteading and urban farming farmgirl weeks!
This week is a very special week! I'm excited to introduce you to our first sponsor...
Who's farmMade? Here's what Patti Long, one of the talented team members of farmMade wants you to know!

"FarmMade is a handmade marketplace for Farmers. We promote all things FARM....from the food that they grow, to the life that they lead, to the wares that they make. We intend on helping to sustain existing farms and grow new ones! We celebrate the "new definition of the present day farmer" in recognizing the city farmer, rural farmer, rooftop csa, community gardens, back/front yard farming, container cultivation, etc. ANYONE who cultivates the land and/or owns livestock to feed themselves, sustain their families and connect to a healthier lifestyle is a HERO in our book."

You can visit FarmMade on facebook and follow the stories of the farmers they profile each week. Click their link in my sidebar under sponsors and sign up for email notification for when their online marketplace will open or if you are interested in selling your " farmMade goods"!
I don't know about you, but I can hardly wait! "

Welcome aboard FarmMade.

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HAPPY FRIDAY FARMGIRLS!!!

Another week comes and goes and I am again left wondering... where did the time go?

I'd like to do something new this week. I'd like to share my week in pictures. Here goes. I hope you like it.

I had lots of fun in the kitchen this week

dehydrating berries and eating them too

In the garden, red leaf lettuce

purple cabbage

and garlic are enjoying the unseasonably warm and sunny weather

I attended my first Thimbleberries Club meeting of the year this week. See our little Show n' Tell HERE! This quilt is my first quarter project. It' s called Love Me Tender. It's so pretty. I am really excited about it.

I've been planting in four of my raised boxes this week. (A big risk, I know in January.) I have taken the advice of a few of you ladies in blogland and started re-organizing my lower kitchen cabinets, the pantry, and even my fabrics. Yikes! How did I let storage get so out of control in the first place? I also spent some time great quality time with friends and loved ones, neglecting our HOPS. I have been running from sun up to sundown this week, but I WILL make the time this weekend to enjoy them all with a cup of hot cocoa.

Until then, I'd like to direct everyone looking for worthy philanthropic sewing projects for January to please check out a post titled "January Craftivism Challenge & Sew Along Part I" by Ann of the Suburban Prairie Homestead's link up HERE! Many of you know her blog well. For newbies, Ann is a talented crafting Mom with a real talent for teaching her gifts to others. What a big heart she has for children, that's obvious too. You can find PART II linked to the UFO Roll Call January Challengethis month as well.

This has been a wonderful week for me. I had so much fun meeting new ladies at TB Club and I got to spend some great time with The Hubby and my BFF Michelle. I ate a few too many blueberries. We got our first rain and snow showers of the new year. We made a little more progress around the house, in the kitchen, and in the garden. My family is well and that's what really matters. I hope YOURS was a GREAT week too. Please link up and share!

Here are the rules for the Farmgirl Friday blog hop!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals, quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

I'm getting excited just looking at your pretty vegetables growing and it must surely take a long time to make such a beautiful quilt, the design looks quite complex. To buy that quilt in the shops is expensive. I'm living in Miami Beach and have a food dryer too. We make a lot of dried apples, bananas and even beef jerky. I find the jerky dries a bit too quickly though and is to crispy, so we are working on fixing that. A food dryer is great for fruit that is getting a bit too ripe to eat fresh, so you don't have to throw it away.I've just started to learn how to crochet as it is becoming quite fashionable, my gran used to crochet beautiful jackets that you could wear over sundresses but her fingers are too stiff and sore now and she can't see very well to show me how to crochet. I even got my gran a cheap little Tracfone SVC with bigger keys and letters for seniors and it only cost $15 and $7 for service, it's quite money saver by the way. I want to crochet hats, frilly scarves and bedspreads in pale romantic lilacs, pinks, greens and beige's and add little crocheted roses here and there. These items make the most beautiful gifts at the small cost of a ball of wool.